Vacay!

The hubby & I just booked a quick little 2 day cruise to the Bahamas and I am so excited! He's never cruised before so he's is doubly excited. We're going to drive down a day or so early and stay in Ft Lauderdale, FL. The cruise is from May 1-3rd! So I have 1 month to save & shop for cruise attire!

 (image)

The last time we went to the Bahamas is when we were still dating back in 2003. We flew in with another couple and had such a good time!

I am looking forward to relaxing on the beautiful beach!

 Hubby & I in 2003

 Yes, I had my hair braided while I was there! lol

Please excuse the quality of the last 2 photos,  I was still using those one time use Kodak cameras back then! This time I will be taking the Canon! :)

Click Once a Day

I'm sure at one time or another you may have come across the "click once a day" site. It consists of 7 great causes. I used to do it daily because I signed up for a daily email reminder. I eventually just stopped clicking because I just didn't understand how one click could make a difference.

Tonight I came across a blog that had the Animal Rescue click button so of course I clicked on it. This time I took the time to read how our clicks actually help.

The 7 causes are funded by the various sponsors on the site. So each click is tallied up, the sponsors are billed, and the funds are divided between various charities! So your click DOES COUNT!

What I liked was that there is a RESULTS page so you can see how many clicks there were and how much help that calculates into. Very very cool!

I'm not asking you to add a link on your blog, but if you have a lot of followers, it would probably be beneficial to these great causes. I  chose to add the animal rescue site & breast cancer site to my sidebar, but they are all extremely important causes. I figured if people at least click on the one, maybe once they get to the site they will click on all the others.

You can click on any of the images below to be taken to the website!

Hallmark Recordable Storybooks

The other day I was at Wal-mart and I saw the new Hallmark Recordable Books. Being that I live in a very predominant military town my first thought was, "this would be fabulous for military families!" Especially if mom or dad is sent overseas.

Your child would have the benefit of hearing that parent read them bedtime stories over & over. And in my opinion, I think it would be a great keepsake in general. As a 30-something year old woman myself, I would have loved to have something like this so that I could hear my dad reading to me.

So even if you're not military, I say go get one or two, and give it to your child as a permanent childhood memory! Kudos to Hallmark on this.

Technology never ceases to amaze me!

Tex Mex Night

This past Thursday was our weekly dinner party & the theme was Tex Mex! It's nothing real fancy, but I do enjoy meeting with friends & family once a week to catch up. Everyone brings a dish & then we discuss the upcoming week's theme over dinner.

On the menu for Tex Mex night was...

Enchiladas courtesy of Lilly & Alanzo!

White Chicken Chili Soup courtesy of Jason!

Southwestern Chicken & Spanish rice courtesy of the hubby!

And I didn't snap a pic of the Mango Salsa & Nachos courtesy of Lillian!

Everything was so good! I will post that recipe of the white chicken chili soup Jason made! It was so so good! There was none left & everyone kept complimenting on it.

Then we also have my brother who brings the drinks, Tom who brings the plates, bowls, cups, & napkins, & Vu who brought cheesecake & ice cream sandwiches for dessert...MEN! lol

When we initially started the parties I would use the good plates & glasses & flatware. Then after 2 dinner parties I got tired of washing all those dishes. So we moved into paper plates & cups. We kept using the good flatware for a few more weeks & then we decided that too was too much (keep in mind we usually have 10-20 people over each Thursday)!

We didn't decide on the next theme because the men were distracted since there was a game on. Y'all know how men get when sports are involved. Ha!


Mini Weekend Recap:

Friday we did a lotto pot with a group of 13 friends. Each person put in $5 for the Mega Millions since it was at $304 million. You always hear stories of groups winning so we gave it a try. So we had 70 chances at winning and...well...we didn't win. So it's back to work Monday morning.

I spent Saturday doing a boudoir photo session for a friend. On the way there the hubby's truck just died. I managed to get out of traffic & pull into a church parking lot. We had it towed back home & Monday we'll take it in to see what's going on. I was so annoyed because my car is not running. Well, it runs but it's making a crazy ticking sound and it leaves a huge white cloud of smoke when I accelerate. I've been carpooling for about 3 weeks now. If any of you have a Mercedes you know that car repairs are EXPENSIVE AS HELL. I really regret buying that car. It's looks & rides great, but if something goes wrong, you better be ready to pay. I can't wait to get rid of that thing & get a new car. I was hoping to make it to next year when it was paid off but it doesn't look like that's gonna happen.

Today I'm going to my friend's house to finish up the boudoir photos. She's making a sexy calendar for her hubby (anniversary gift) and she did 12 different looks. Tomorrow she's doing a mermaid look which requires body painting. My fabulous MUA (make up artist) friend Tamara is going to put her artsy skills to work! I can't wait to see what she comes up with. I'll have to ask her if she will at least let me post a picture of her face make-up on here.

Wish me luck!

What's in my purse

I saw this on Got Good Love & decided to participate!

So first we have the purse.
I bought it from QVC & it's the Tignalleo Pebble Leather triple entry a-line shopper.
I love it! It's so soft & keeps me organized with the 3 separate areas.
The color is called Satin Metal.
The middle area has a zipper feature while the front & back area have a magnetic closure.

Inside you will find...
My yellow snake skin Guess wallet & the mini wallet that came with the purse.
I use the Guess wallet for the cards I don't use often & the mini wallet as my quick access wallet for things like my ID, debit card, etc.

Next is my keys (on my matching Tignanello key fob), a lighter, & some pens.
The maroon tube looking thing on my key ring is a handy tooth pick! I don't know where my mom got it but it is SO handy when you're going out to eat!
Now for the junky part...
I have my several lipsticks & glosses, compact, brush, lotion, tissue, & ibuprofren.

In the front zipper compartments I have my phone on one side & work badge and my player's club card for the Venetian in Vegas! lol! I don't know why I carry my Grazie Card with me.

Sip N Strokes

Happy Friday!

A few weeks ago my girlfriend Kami decided to celebrate her birthday at Sip N Strokes. No, it's not a strip club as the OnStar lady thought! It's actually an art studio where you can bring your own wine & paint!

Let me preface this with the following:
I CANNOT PAINT AT ALL. I have no art skills whatsoever!

For $35 you get a canvas & all the supplies. An art instructor walks you through painting the picture. When you go to their website, you can select various dates in which various images will painted.

The night we went, we painted a wine bottle & glass! Kami provided us with cookies & wine glasses that she customized for all of us! We had such a great time!

Unfortunately they are only in a few states, but they are franchising! I think this is a GREAT idea for anyone wanting to start their own business.

We attended the class in Auburn and it was about 3 hours long! So so fun ladies! I highly recommend it if you have one near you!


First we started with an outline...they gave step by step instructions!
(my friend Lisa)

Here's my outline!

The birthday girl's outline!

My finished art piece!
Hanging in the kitchen.
(& yes I signed it as if I were a real artist)

Over my mini bar in the kitchen!
I'm so proud of myself!
(I promise I'm not an alcoholic!)

Close up of the cute wineglasses Kami made for us!

Before & After

So I had this brilliant idea to paint a mirror for my newly striped dining room. I've had this mirror for years & thought maybe it would look better in white. Now, I'm not so sure.

What do yall think?
I haven't hung it up yet because I'm not sure I like it so much.

Before


AfterWell maybe it isn't so bad. After I see it on here I kind of like it! lol